Dragged Around by Too Much: Finding the One Thing

Pastor James Cole

You-you know that feeling on a- a Thursday afternoon, say around three o'clock, when your phone is buzzing, there are eleven open tabs on your computer, the laundry is piled up, and you feel... well, you feel like you are physically being pulled in five different directions at once? It's not just a figure of speech, is it? It-it actually feels like a physical tug-of-war on your sanity. There's a- a wonderful, incredibly vivid word for this in the Greek text of the New Testament. In Luke chapter ten, when we read about Martha preparing dinner for Jesus, the scripture says she was "distracted" by all her preparations. But the Greek word there is *periespato*. And *periespato* literally means "to drag all around" or "to be distracted with care." It's-it's the image of a net being hauled in, or someone literally being dragged by the hem of their cloak in opposite directions by competing demands. It is a- a fragmented mental state. And the irony, the real kicker of this story, is what we might call the- the "holy distraction." Martha wasn't dragged away by some terrible, worldly sin. She-she was distracted by *diakonia*--by service, by hospitality, by doing good things. It-it shows how easily our anxiety disguises itself as necessary duty. We think, "Well, I have to do this, it's my job, it's for my family, it's even for God!" But look at what happens to Martha. Her internal fracturing, that being dragged all around, it-it causes her to break every ancient rule of hospitality. She publicly embarrasses her sister Mary, and she snaps at Jesus, her guest! She says, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself?" The distraction actually pulls her away from the very person she is trying to serve. And Jesus, in his warmth, looks at her and uses another key word. He says, "Martha, Martha, you are worried." The word there is *merimnas*, which comes from a root meaning "to divide or tear apart." Anxiety isn't just a feeling of being stressed. It is a structural division of the mind. It is a- a mind literally torn in two, pulling our attention away from the very people, and the very presence, we want to cherish.

Pastor James Cole

I- I have to confess to you, I know this trap intimately. Just last week, I was sitting at my desk, trying to write a sermon about peace. Yes, peace! And my email kept chiming, the phone rang twice, someone knocked on the door to ask about the- the budget for the upcoming church picnic, and I- I found myself getting so incredibly tense, snapping at a- an email response, my mind just... dragged all around by administrative details. I was Martha, completely stressed out, while trying to write a message about Mary's peace. Pastors are not immune to the Martha-trap. But Jesus’ response to Martha in verse forty-two is so gentle. He says, "there is need of only one thing." Now, this isn't a harsh scolding. He's not telling Martha to let the soup burn or to never clean the house again. It's a freeing boundary. He's saying, "Martha, you don't have to carry the whole world right now. Mary has chosen the better part--undivided attention--and it won't be snatched away from her." So, how do we find that "one thing" in the middle of a chaotic Thursday? Let's try a simple practice right now, what I call the "Pause of the Center." Wherever you are, if it's safe to do so, just take a deep breath. Take one deep breath... and name what is dragging you around. Just name it in your mind. Now, take a second deep breath... and acknowledge that God is right here, in this exact, messy space with you. And take a third deep breath... and pray this simple prayer: "Lord, I am here, and You are here." Let us pray. Lord, for the one listening right now who feels pulled in a dozen directions, whose mind is divided and torn, speak Your peace. Remind them that they do not have to carry it all. Anchor them in Your presence, right here, in the middle of the mess. Amen. Go in peace today, my friends. You are not alone.